Changeling
Disappearances are not uncommon in this day and age. People go missing every day, and many of them never return safely to their homes. In some cases there are natural explanations to such unfortunate fates, but in others, the legends of old are right - the Faeries really did have a hand in what happened. '''Changelings '''are the once-human unfortunate few who have been stolen away by the True Fae to their home world of Arcadia, where they were held against their will as slaves, utilities, lovers... Their stay in Arcadia, no matter how brief, inevitably changes them into something inhuman, turning them more and more like their captors. The Changelings lose themselves in their new lives of servitude, gradually deteriorating as they lose their memories of home, of their loved ones - even of who they truly are. Those that lose their identity completely are forever lost to the world, living out their new lives in accordance to the will of their new masters. There are others who do not. Clinging to their memories of their true selves and their loved ones, a tiny lucky number manage to escape. They return to the human realm - scarred emotionally and physically - and are known as Changelings, or "The Lost". Biology In the case of the Changelings, looks are truly decieving. When they were stolen away by the True Fae to Arcadia, they were carried through a barrier known as the Hedge, a thick wall guarding the realm of the Faeries from all who might want to enter uninvited. The soul of the kidnapped human gets caught in the thorny vines that make up the Hedge, stripping them effectively of their humanity and turning them into more pliable playthings for their captors. Upon returning through the thorns during their escape, the Changeling must reclaim their soul or risk entering our world once more as soulless husks. Forever changed by their stay in Arcadia, the Changeling might still look ordinary to the thanks to an illusion called the Mask. It obscures them from others not of Fae origins, making them pass for human. The truth is another; they have been transformed and warped beyond recognition, their flesh manipulated into a form better suited for the purpose they once served to their masters. Unfortunately, the changes also leaves them barren/sterile, one of the core reasons why the True Fae continue to find a need to kidnap humans for their own needs. Life Cycle Changelings are never born - they are twisted into being by the cruel whims of the True Fae. A Changeling must hold on to their memories in order to ever make it back through the Hedge. Thus, only those with strong memories of our world - those who were adolescent, teens or adults when taken - ever stand a chance of returning. Human children can be taken, but generally, they don't have strong enough memories of Earth to bring them back if they would manage to escape. Instead, an escaping Changeling child would be fated to wander the dangerous trails of the Hedge forever. If they do return to the realm of the human world, they are usually sent on errands by their masters and thus not free. Many of the children that are taken die in Arcadia before ever reaching adolescence due to the dangers and maltreatment of the Fae - True Fae are fickle and don't have the attention span nor interest to care for a human baby or toddler in order to ensure they survive. The reasons for a True Fae to kidnap a human are as numerous as there are Changelings. They range from taking strong, able grown-ups for specific purposes such as tending their garden or being used as a night light, to serving as a lover or plaything, to the kidnapping being just for the fun of it - like the Will o' the Wisp leading an unsuspecting person astray. The prospect Changeling might have been unlucky, tricked into servitude by the Fae or unwittingly breaking a deal they did not know was struck, thus leaving the Fae free to punish them. They might even have come along willingly, being enamored by the beauty and strangeness of their future masters. Whilst all are not taken by force, being in Arcadia is a gruesome experience. They are still held prisoners and forced to labour. The work in question does not need to make sense either; there sometimes seems to be no reason behind their capture. Logic does not apply to the Fae, and they are harsh masters. No matter how long or short a Changeling's stay is in Arcadia, all of the Lost are inevitably changed by their experience in the land of the Fae. Eating the food there, drinking the water, breathing the air... even simple stuff like that changes the physiology and the mental state of those poor souls forced there. Arcadia does not work according to the laws of physics as humans knows them; in order to do such a simple thing as keeping both your feet on the ground with the help of gravity (or breathing life-vital oxygen, for that matter) you need to be under Fae protection, as even the basic things are being regulated by the Contracts the True Fae have with the very land of Arcadia. Therefore, it is impossible to survive in Arcadia without the consent of a True Fae. Upon managing to escape - a strenuous task which only the most determined and capable manage - return is usually bittersweet. Time flows differently in Arcadia, a fact that many of the Lost discover once they get back. Some has spent years in slavery, only to find that once they return there has been mere moments since their disappearance, and the aged person they emerge as cannot possibly pass as the young, vital one that was lost. Others might feel like they only spent a few days in Arcadia, but when they return they realize decades has passed on Earth and the people they knew has since long moved on. If a Changeling is lucky enough to return within a timely manner, they might find that their life has been stolen by someone else - that a stranger looking just like them, with their memories, has taken their place, and that they have not been missed at all. This simulacrum is known as a Fetch, a replica that was created by the True Fae in order to fill the empty space left behind. With their rightful place stolen or lost, they need to find a new way of living, balancing their human side and that of the fae. Just like humans do, the Changeling needs to eat and sleep regularly in order to survive. They also need to be exposed to the magic and wonder of Arcadia, lest they wither up and die. Changelings' lives are lengthened by exposure to Arcadia, and they usually live past their hundreds, yet no longer than roughly 130 years of age. Fae Mien and the Mask Glamour creates an illusion of normality around the Changeling, a clever guise that makes them pass for human even around other supernatural creatures, as well as on film and digital media. This illusion is known as the Mask, and is completely involuntary. Even after death, the illusion lingers; it cannot be dropped. With that in mind, the Fae Mien (the Changelings new, true appearance) does shine through even through the mask. There might be something wooden to their skin, or a gleam of a cat's eye in their gaze for a short instance even to the casual onlooker. The Fae Mien is the true form of the warped Changeling, twisted and shaped into a new form befitting their purpose. A Changeling who was used as a lantern might have flames instead of hair and charcoal skin, whilst one who was tending ice gardens is frozen solid, his eyes like distant blue stars. Despite these drastic changes to their looks, however, the new features do not affect the nature around them. A Changeling's flaming hair would not burn someone touching it, nor set off smoke detectors. The talons of someone of Beast Seeming would not leave marks like those from a bear, but rather like those from long, sharpened nails. The touch of a Snowskin might be cold, but it would be perceived as if it was due to poor circulation. The Fae Mien is always visible to others of the Lost, as well as all being associated with Arcadia; there's no hiding what you are from the True Fae or their agents. Seeming Beasts Darklings Elementals Fairest Ogres Wizened Kith Wyrd Glamour Contracts Power comes with prices, and there are always weird drawbacks! Psychology While the physical changes to the Lost might be the first thing that is noticeable, they are not the sole aspect that has been damaged. Changelings, by their experiences in Arcadia, have been traumatized to the point that the psyche of a Changeling is also incredibly warped. Being stripped of your soul and then having it return damaged, torn up beyond all recognition, is bound to mess with anyone's mind. There's no wonder that the few that make it back to Earth are stricken by an eerie kind of beautiful madness. Consciousness and Thought All that is touched by Faerie, be it the land itself, its denizens or objects associated with them, are always beautiful. It might be a terrible, maddening beauty, one that leaves you as terrified as you are awestruck, but there's always a certain elegance to all things associated with the True Fae. Thus, there's always a sort of beauty to even the ugliest of Changelings. The Lost are able to see the beauty ordinary people miss in their daily lives - they appreciate the tiniest of shifting in the colour of the sky, or the tear running down someone's cheek. It's a gift as well as a conscious act on their part to see and appreciate all that their regained life, however messed up it might be, has to offer. Whilst there is a lot of beautiful things in the life of the Changelings, there is also vertiginous madness, stemming from the fact that a Changeling's existence is twofold. Whilst they are currently living in our reality with the mundane day-to-day life that goes on around them, there is no escaping all things Fae when you are one of the lost. They often cross paths with things of Faerie and the Hedge, even venturing into the latter on a regular basis out of necessity. The strange, creepy and eerie; things that simply should not be, that defy human rationality and all sorts of reason - all of those are part of Changeling existence. Faeries don't fit in under any mortal definition of sanity, and therefore Changelings, too, don't always know the difference between reality and dream. Memories of Arcadia are often very foggy and nightmarish. No one escaping has total recall. Their sights and experiences are beyond all sense or reason, making them hard to keep straight once you've gotten back with both feet on solid ground. It's a mixed blessing; many are thankful that the scars left by their servitude are allowed to heal, the horrors they experienced left behind them - faded, but never completely forgotten. The struggle to maintain a balance between their human side and their Fae one is a central one. There's a constant balancing act maintaining their human persona while at the same time not forsaking that of their other, more glamoured side. The juggling takes time and effort. Upon returning, there are tough choices to be made. Will you reclaim your old life and suffer the consequences of possibly being right within grasp from the True Fae, or will you forge a new identity and forsake your old life, your family and all you once held dear for the sake of an uncertain, but possibly safer future? There is a price to pay regardless of the path the Changeling choose to take, but they all have one thing in common: they need to maintain a balance, since denying either side of their nature always proves disastrous. Motivation and Emotion Predominant in the Lost is their dreams of a place to belong. Their rightful place in our society was forcefully stolen from them by ethereal beings beyond human comprehension; returning means making yourself a new place to call home, or forcefully fight for the one that was taken from you. Most Changelings struggle with feeling safe. Knowing what other things this world holds gives them an uneasy mindset, and they can have a hard time relaxing even in the company of their peers. They do fear being recaptured by their keepers, or suffer some other unspeakable horror. Therefore, they are also quite cautious. This fear can gradually dissipate as they partake in the real world, but they never fully get past panic attacks, violent startles or terrifying nightmares ripe with the memories of their captivity. Suspicion and paranoia is very common in all Changelings; even a fully sane, functioning Changeling lacks that fundamental feeling of being safe. The desire for safety is the reason for three major focuses in the Lost's lives: trust, hospitality and secrecy. Trust especially is very difficult for Changelings to relearn. The True Fae are always bound by their words by contracts, but they always follow the exact wording of a truce and are experts and finding loop holes. These masters of deception effectively taught Changelings distrust. This fear also make many of the Lost vary of other supernatural beings that they might know are in existence, since they naturally fear that they are cooperating with the True Fae. Changelings' emotions are more powerful and potent than those of humans, and they feel them intensely. Ignoring their fae side is a no-go, lest they suffer emotional and physical trauma from denial. Clarity Changelings are no longer human, but neither are they fully fae. Upon returning to Earth, most changelings find themselves walking a fine line between two worlds. They cannot deny what they have become, but at the same time, it is their strong connection to this world that allowed them to return, and they feel a need to identify with and be accepted by the world around them. Clarity tracks this delicate balance between the mundane world and the maddening realms of Glamour. A changeling with high Clarity is able to easily distinguish between the two worlds and might even become slightly more adept at spotting supernatural phenomena otherwise hidden from view. By contrast, a changeling with low Clarity finds her perceptions spiraling out of control. She starts having trouble distinguishing her dreams from reality, and starts mixing up elements from the two worlds. She might begin perceiving strange creatures from the Hedge in the ordinary world or incongruously normal fragments of mundane life amid the riot of Faerie. At first these mistaken perceptions are transitory and relatively harmless, but as Clarity slips, they interfere in her life more and more until it is all but impossible to exist sanely in either reality and she is reduced to a mere shell of a being. Sociology Promises and pledges hold the world of the lost together. Common Grounds All Changelings have “The Escape” in common, but they escape from their captors through different means (sneaking out, breaking out by brute force, tricking the Fae into letting them go, etc). Many are recaptured, and the reprecussions on escape are so severe that many don't attempt it again. Thus, those that do return to Earth are the most capable ones. Other ways of winning freedom includes being released due to a contract expiring, winning games of riddles or such, or simply being set free for no apparent reason. The latter ones are often uneasy and left with a feeling of unfinished business, wondering what their captors' gets out of them being free. Eternal question of Changelings: Player of Pawn? Was they manipulated by the Fae into something, like escaping, or was it their own decision? Returning to the real world isn't easy. Time might've passed, or haven't passed while it has for them, leaving them without ground to stand on. Their new Changeling status makes everything new and strange. Society, Government, and Politics Returned Changelings are outsiders and often need help with legal stuff like new identities since theirs are often occupied by fetches. Worst off are the kids that grew up in Arcadia and then returned, or those that disappeared and come back 20 or more years after their initial disappearance. Becoming a part of human society again is often hard, but being accepted into Changeling one isn't hard at all. Changelings see each other's fae mien! New Losts might be startled by a Changeling coming towards them, though, since the fae mien looks like True Fae. They might attack and not welcome the help, afraid of being re-captured. Six decades back is the maximum of how far back Changelings can come from. Due to this, their society is often very conservative compared to modern day human society. Freeholds Freeholds are important to find others that have suffered the same and know what it's like. It's a new home away from home together with other changelings, and important to most of them. It's safe haven. It's the heart of the Changeling community, and is ruled by Courts, who change by seasons to ensure every subgroup gets a chance at getting their voice heard. Freeholds also give the Changelings a bit of Arcadia back – loathe it as they do, there was something wondrous about the place, and they get abstinence. ' Courts Spring Court Summer Court Autumn Court Winter Court Privateers and Loyalists History Mythology Category:Races